Without a Word
by Something Goes Here
Summary: While at a party thrown by Misato Katsuragi, Rei Ayanami asks a surprised Shinji Ikari for a dance. Song-Fiction.


**Author's Note: **For some reason, I really wanted to get this out. _really._ And I know that's not quite a smart thing to do so I apologize if it's not quite what you expect. Originally, I did this **without** the song, the idea of adding it it and creating a song-fic just sort of.. Leaped out at me one day. I hope you all enjoy it, and I apologize if Rei seems slightly Out Of Character.

**Disclaimer:** I do **not** own anything. All rights to _Neon Genesis Evangelion_ are copyrighted to and by Gainax Ltd and it's affiliates. Nor do I own any rights or privileges to the song lyrics that accompany this work. Those belong to the band "Young Love", titled, "Find A New Way". All material belongs with the new release of the publicized album "Too Young To Fight It".**

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Note:** The song is spaced out _**on propose**_. Anyone who can give me my reason for doing as such get's a cookie. I'll give you a hint. Each verse has something to do with the line that comes before it.

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"Rei." A nervous and abashed Shinji Ikari spoke quietly, his voice carrying gently in the air before fading off into the strange mixture of sounds reverberating off the walls, the music, people conversing, the steady stomp and clap of hands and feet twisting, and the mesh of gyrating bodies writhing in the center of the tile floored from.

Shinji's eyes albeit the hollers and shouts filling the room, were locked steadfastly on one Rei Ayanami, sitting silently and docilely in a straight backed, slightly large metallic chair near the corner of the room, alone, the seats around her empty. Her eyes watched the preceding without a flicker of recognition, even a slight puzzled frown causing her lips to tremble downward.

_If it takes away the pain, it's alright._

_We're living so hard, you might not make it through tonight._

_Follow the bright lights._

_They might change you._

_If you get lost along the way, it's alright._

At the sound of his voice however she blinked and slowly turned her head toward him, watching his approaching figure from across the room, waylaid momentarily by a violently careening duo of Misato Katsuragi and Ryoji Kaji, who were, judging by appearances, 'dancing'.

Shinji hesitated a moment in thought, trying to discern why the two's type of dancing involved an _inhuman_ amount of physical contact, his cheeks warming slightly as he brushed past them, having surveyed the current resting place of Kaji's hands, he was sure that touching _that_ aspect of the female anatomy was _not_ productive nor necessary to the fast paced dance rhythm causing Shinji's eardrums to throb currently.

_We'll find another way to dance._

_We'll find another way to dance._

_If you get the chance._

_You must dance, dance, dance._

"Yes, Ikari-kun?" Replied Rei, tilting her head as he stood in front of her, her hands laid over her lap, fingers clasped tightly together.

"Would you.. Like to take go outside with me?" Shinji asked, his face warming again as his words slowly echoed out of his mouth, sounding lame to his own ears.

"It's just so loud and hot in here.." He continued, his words rushing and tumbling out of his mouth as the need to explain his question overpowered him. The emotion of both embarrassment and the child-like quality he carried when he had spoken causing him to sag slightly. Unconsciously he rubbed his damp palms down the side of his pants.

_We'll find another way to dance._

_We'll find another way to dance._

_If you get the chance._

_You must dance, dance, dance._

Rei remained seated for a moment, absorbing his question before nodding once and standing unexpectedly.

"Yes, I'd like that." She intoned, before briskly turning on heel and making her way between the dancing occupants of the room and the door.

Rubbing a hand over the side of his face Shinji followed after her, exiting the stifling room with nothing more then a soft _click_ as the door shut behind him.

"It's nice out." Rei voiced, turning to face him as she stood stiffly despite her comment, near the steps leading down from Misato's apartment. A lone strand of her blue hair fell across her cheek as a slight breeze whistled through the building. Shinji had the sudden urge to touch it.

_If you get caught out in the storm, it's alright._

_You're living so hard you can't stay dry, when you're out tonight._

_Stare at the bright lights._

_They might blind you._

_Look at them to long and you might see it's alright._

Instead he moved and pressed his weight against the hard stone railing before him, resting his forearms on the rough rock, distinctly he heard the music and voices behind him in the room squeeze through the crack at the bottom of the closed door.

_We'll find another way to dance._

_We'll find another way to dance._

_If you get the chance._

_You must dance, dance, dance._

"I told you the next time Misato threw a party I'd get you to come." He spoke, breaking the small silence stretching between them.

_We'll find another way to dance._

_We'll find another way to dance._

_If you get the chance._

_You must dance, dance, dance._

Rei nodded once. "I remember." And she did, for some reason, unknown to herself, she found she could almost remember every word Shinji had spoken to her, every action no matter how small in it's execution. Slowly she moved from her post and slid next to him, so close she could feel the slight press of his side against her own.

"Shinji?" Rei asked, turning her head to face his.

"Mm?" He mumbled, his eyes slightly misted, clearing as he turned to meet her gaze.

"_Would you like to dance?" _Her voice was a whisper.

_Be what you believe._

_Stand up, break free._

_Be what you believe._

_Bright lights can't see._

Shinji blinked and jerked slightly, pulling himself back to the present he cleared his throat and shifted slightly. "What did you say?" He was positive he had just daydreamed or perhaps dozed off in the cool night air, as it sounded uncannily as if Rei had just asked him to dance with her.

"I said, would you like to dance?" Rei asked again, frowning slightly at him, whether out of concern or foolishness Shinji wasn't sure.

"I don't know how to dance." Shinji blurted stupidly.

"You danced with Asuka in training." Rei said simply, captivating him with ruby-like fixture of her gaze as the stars, barely visible behind dark blue clouds reflecting off them.

"That.. That was different." He stuttered, and it was, Shinji however tried very _not_ to think of Asuka when he was with Rei. He had the small notion to mention that she had danced then as well, but dismissed it.

"Sure." He stated, stepping back away from the railing. _How hard can it really be anyway? _He thought, turning an ear to the door, his head cocked as the music poured through it. Soft and slow, it permeated the air between the two.

Stepping up to him, Rei reached out with her arms and encircled his neck, her fingers clasped gently on the back of his neck as she moved up against him, indifferent to Shinji's discomfort as he slowly and clumsily wound his arms around the slim silhouette of her waist, tightening his grip around her slightly, the effect bringing Rei unceremoniously flushed up against him, so close she could feel the warmth of his body radiate against hers, the gentle press of his chest on hers, and the lay of his hands as they rested along the corners of her hips.

At that exact moment Rei experienced something she had never before, a tightening in her abdomen, and a slow sweat breaking out on her brow as her heart fluttered against her breast. It was exquisite.

Shinji, ignorant of Rei's emotional epiphany, resisted the urge to twitch and squirm against her, his brain seemingly locked in a state of permanent stupor. Swallowing several times and clearing his throat for good measure Shinji, inexperienced in doing so, began to sway and turn on the spot the two held outside the door. _What would _they_ think? If they came out here now and saw us?_ Shinji forced the thought into the very back of his brain as he tried to concentrate on Rei, who had begun to sway and turn in rhythm with him.

_Be what you believe._

_Stand up, break free._

_Be what you believe._

_Bright lights can't see._

Perhaps only moments had passed, to Shinji Ikari a thousand years could have come and gone and he would not have voiced a word in complaint. His every pinpoint of attention was centered on the small female resting in his arms, his senses acute to her every movement and act, it was as if he was standing outside of himself, watching without the ability to intervene. Not that he would have if he could, for once, ever since his mother had died, despite all the hardships he had endured, and choices that had been forced upon him. He was happy. Ultimately, singularly. Happy.

Turning once more he tilted his head down to gaze at the blue haired head resting beneath his chin, slowly drifting from his reverie, to his astonishment he could feel the warmth of her cheek gently nestled against the hollow at the base of his neck, her skin touching his, feel the steady breath as it escaped her lungs and vanished into the open air after running across his collar bone. _When had she moved?_

Her eyes closed, Rei Ayanami was caught in-between a turmoil of emotions, each vying and unnaturally foreign to her as the next that washed over it within seconds. She thought she might drown in their depths, until she had pressed her face without warrant into the crook of Shinji's neck and rubbed her cheek against his flesh, it was warm and soft, yielding. _Alive._ Her life had always been cold, colorless, sound proof. Until Shinji Ikari. He had shattered her with no more then a trembling voice, made her ignite on fire with a touch, and blinded her with his vibrancy.

"Ikari-kun?" Rei lifted up her head from it's resting place on his chest.

The silence that had dominated the very essence of the pair was broken into a million pieces. Pulling his head back he looked down at her.

"Ayanami?" He had become aware that she was shivering, maybe she was cold.

Without a word, she had tightened her grip on the back of his neck and let her fingers ascend into the thickness of his hair, cradling the back of his head she soundlessly pulled him down toward her, save a long, trembling sigh passing her lips as she faltered a moment, raising herself up on the tips of her toes and pressing her mouth against his firmly.

_Her lips are so soft,_ thought Shinji, and they were, the softest thing he had ever felt. As tenderly as he could he returned her kiss, easing his lips over hers, then, shock whipped and crackled through him as he experienced the hesitant flick of the tip of her tongue against his upper lip, against his own volition his mouth opened over hers, his grip on her waist restraining as he gently explored the expanses of her mouth. He had the sudden urge to laugh as a thought struck him. _She tastes like apples.._ His lips curved slightly against hers as he noted her left hand had moved from his hair and rested on his cheek, velvet smooth.

He seemed to be filling up, a warmth crashing erratically through his body as he kissed Rei, intoxicating to his sense, and just when he thought he might explode from the pent up emotion, it was gone. The warmth of her mouth, the press of her body, even the touch of her finger tips. Gone.

She had stepped back, her eyes were still closed, she reached up with a hand and touched her lips, a look of pure ecstasy etched into her features, Shinji thought he had never seen anything as beautiful as Rei looked at the moment. Then, that too was gone. And she was staring at him with those deep red eyes.

"Thank you, for the dance. Shinji." Before the words had even left her mouth she had moved and brushed aside him, her hand moving to capture his momentarily before releasing and she was gone, back inside. The music assailing him.

_We'll find another way to dance._

_We'll find another way to dance._

_If you get the chance._

_You must dance, dance, dance._

He stood for only a moment, gazing out across what he thought, may be the whole world. Turning he went back inside, joining Rei and the throng of late night individuals.

He would realize, later. She had used his first name when addressing him.


End file.
